IIB 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6018 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 14, 2018 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

AN ACT 

To establish an interagency program to assist countries in 

North and West Africa to improve immediate and longterm capabilities to counter terrorist threats, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Trans-Sahara Counter3 terrorism Partnership Act of 2018’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that— 

6 (1) the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Part7 nership, launched in 2005, is an interagency pro8 gram to assist partner countries in the Sahel and 

9 Maghreb regions of Africa on their immediate and 

10 long-term capabilities to address terrorist threats 

11 and prevent the spread of violent extremism; 

12 (2) armed groups and violent Islamist terrorist 

13 organizations, such as Al Qaeda in the Islamic 

14 Maghreb, Boko Haram, the Islamic State of West 

15 Africa, and other affiliated groups, have killed tens 

16 of thousands of innocent civilians, displaced popu17 lations, destabilized local and national governments, 

18 and caused mass human suffering in the affected 

19 communities; 

20 (3) it is in the national security interest of the 

21 United States to combat the spread of radical 

22 Islamist extremism and build partner countries’ ca23 pacity to combat these threats in Africa; 

24 (4) extremist movements exploit vulnerable and 

25 marginalized communities suffering from poverty, 


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1 lack of economic opportunity (particularly among 

2 youth populations), and weak governance; and 

3 (5) to address critical security, political, eco4 nomic, and humanitarian challenges in these regions 

5 of Africa, a coordinated, interagency approach is 

6 needed to appropriately allocate resources, share re7 sponsibility, de-conflict programs, and maximize the 

8 effectiveness of United States defense, diplomatic, 

9 and development capabilities. 

10 SEC. 3. TRANS-SAHARA COUNTERTERRORISM PARTNER11 SHIP. 

12 (a) TRANS-SAHARA COUNTER TERRORISM PARTNER13 SHIP.— 

14 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of State, 

15 in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and 

16 the Administrator of the United States Agency for 

17 International Development, shall establish a partner18 ship, to be known as the ‘‘Trans-Sahara Counterter19 rorism Partnership’’ (TSCTP), to coordinate all 

20 United States programs, projects, and activities in 

21 North and West Africa that are conducted for any 

22 of the following purposes: 

23 (A) To build the capacity of foreign mili24 tary and law enforcement entities in such re25 gions to conduct counterterrorism operations. 


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1 (B) To improve the ability of foreign mili2 tary and law enforcement entities in such re3 gions to cooperate with the United States and 

4 other partner countries on counterterrorism ef5 forts. 

6 (C) To enhance the border security capac7 ity of partner countries in such regions, includ8 ing the ability to monitor, restrain, and inter9 dict terrorists. 

10 (D) To strengthen the rule of law in such 

11 countries, including access to justice, and the 

12 ability of the law enforcement entities of such 

13 partner countries to detect, disrupt, respond to, 

14 investigate, and prosecute terrorist activity. 

15 (E) To monitor and counter the financing 

16 of terrorism. 

17 (F) To further reduce any vulnerabilities 

18 among affected populations in such regions to 

19 recruitment or incitement of terrorist activities 

20 through public diplomacy efforts, such as sup21 porting youth employment, promoting meaning22 ful participation of women, strengthening local 

23 governance and civil society capacity, and im24 proving access to economic opportunities and 

25 education. 


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1 (G) To support independent, local-lan2 guage media, particularly in rural areas, to 

3 counter media operations and recruitment prop4 aganda by terrorist organizations. 

5 (2) CONSULTATION.—In coordinating programs 

6 through the TSCTP, the Secretary of State shall 

7 also consult, as appropriate, with the Director of 

8 National Intelligence, the Secretary of the Treasury, 

9 the Attorney General, the Chief Executive Officer of 

10 the United States Agency for Global Media (for11 merly known as the Broadcasting Board of Gov12 ernors), and the heads of other relevant Federal de13 partments and agencies. 

14 (3) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Not later 

15 than 15 days before obligating amounts for an activ16 ity coordinated by the TSCTP pursuant to para17 graph (1), the Secretary of State shall submit a no18 tification, in accordance with the requirements of 

19 section 634A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

20 (22 U.S.C. 2394–1), that includes the following: 

21 (A) The foreign country and entity, as ap22 plicable, whose capabilities are to be enhanced 

23 in accordance with the purposes specified in 

24 paragraph (1). 


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1 (B) The amount, type, and purpose of sup2 port to be provided. 

3 (C) An assessment of the capacity of the 

4 foreign country or entity to absorb the assist5 ance to be provided. 

6 (D) The estimated cost and anticipated im7 plementation timeline for assistance. 

8 (E) As applicable, a description of the ar9 rangements to sustain any equipment provided 

10 by the activity beyond the completion date of 

11 such activity, if applicable, and the estimated 

12 cost and source of funds to support such 

13 sustainment. 

14 (F) The amount, type, statutory authoriza15 tion, and purpose of any United States security 

16 assistance provided to such foreign country dur17 ing the three preceding fiscal years pursuant to 

18 authorities under title 10, United States Code, 

19 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

20 2151 et seq.), or any other ‘‘train and equip’’ 

21 authorities of the Department of Defense. 

22 (b) COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY FOR COUNTERTER23 RORISM EFFORTS.— 

24 (1) DEVELOPMENT.—Not later than 180 days 

25 after the date of enactment of this Act, the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Nov 14, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6018.RFS H6018

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1 retary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of 

2 Defense and the Administrator of the United States 

3 Agency for International Development, shall submit 

4 to the appropriate congressional committees a com5 prehensive, interagency strategy that— 

6 (A) states the objectives of the United 

7 States counterterrorism effort in North and 

8 West Africa with respect to the use of all forms 

9 of United States assistance to counter violent 

10 extremism; 

11 (B) includes a plan by the Secretary of 

12 State for the manner in which programs shall 

13 be coordinated by the TSCTP pursuant to sub14 section (a)(1), including which agency or bu15 reau of the Department of State, as applicable, 

16 will be responsible for leading and coordinating 

17 each such program; and 

18 (C) outlines a plan to monitor and evaluate 

19 TSCTP programs and identifies the key indica20 tors that will be used to measure performance 

21 and progress under the strategy. 

22 (2) SUPPORTING MATERIAL IN ANNUAL BUDG23 ET REQUEST.—The Secretary of State shall include, 

24 in the budget materials submitted in support of the 

25 budget of the President (submitted to Congress purVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Nov 14, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6018.RFS H6018

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1 suant to section 1105 of title 31, United States 

2 Code) for each fiscal year beginning after the date 

3 of the enactment of this Act, a description of the re4 quirements, activities, and planned allocation of 

5 amounts requested by the TSCTP. 

6 (c) MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF PROGRAMS

7 AND ACTIVITIES.— 

8 (1) MONITORING AND EVALUATION.—The Sec9 retary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of 

10 Defense and the Administrator of the United States 

11 Agency for International Development, shall monitor 

12 and evaluate the programs coordinated by the 

13 TSCTP pursuant to subsection (a)(1) in accordance 

14 with the plan outlined pursuant to subsection 

15 (b)(1)(C). 

16 (2) REPORT.—For the 5-year period beginning 

17 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

18 the Secretary of State shall submit to the appro19 priate congressional committees an annual report on 

20 monitoring and evaluation efforts pursuant to para21 graph (1) that describes— 

22 (A) the progress made in meeting the ob23 jectives listed in the strategy required by sub24 section (b)(1), including any lessons learned in 

25 carrying out TSCTP programs and activities 


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1 and any recommendations for improving such 

2 programs and activities; 

3 (B) the efforts taken to coordinate, de-con4 flict and streamline TSCTP programs to maxi5 mize resource effectiveness; 

6 (C) the extent to which each partner coun7 try has demonstrated the ability to absorb the 

8 equipment or training provided in the year pre9 vious under TSCTP programs, and where appli10 cable, the ability to maintain and appropriately 

11 utilize such equipment provided; 

12 (D) the extent to which each partner coun13 try is investing its own resources to advance the 

14 goals described in subsection (a)(1) or dem15 onstrated a commitment and willingness to co16 operate with the United States to advance such 

17 goals; and 

18 (E) the actions taken by the government of 

19 each partner country receiving assistance 

20 through programs coordinated by the TSCTP 

21 to combat corruption, improve transparency 

22 and accountability, and promote other forms of 

23 good governance. 

24 (d) FORM.—The strategy required by subsection 

25 (b)(1) and the report required by subsection (c)(2) shall 


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1 be submitted in unclassified form but may include a classi2 fied annex. 

3 (e) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE4 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres5 sional committees’’ means— 

6 (1) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

7 Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on 

8 Appropriations, and the Permanent Select Com9 mittee on Intelligence of the House of Representa10 tives; and 

11 (2) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

12 Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 

13 Appropriations, and the Select Committee on Intel14 ligence of the Senate. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 13, 

2018. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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